I don't think it's a gimmick, necessarily. The bells and whistles do make an improvement to the feel, action, and adjustability of the stand. What many of you are saying is that you don't desire that in a high-hat stand, or that you don't want to pay more for those features. And that is totally fine. But that doesn't make those features gimmicky.

Yesterday, I tried out the DW9500 stand at the store, and I have to say it felt VERY good. I would consider spending extra money for that kind of quality.

For me personally, adjustments on pedals are evil. I just get things totally out of whack and then can't get it back to how it was out of the box, which is usually better than whatever I end up with on my own.